Chapter 39

As Mai Woo had predicted in her conversation with Elsa and me, earlier that day, the engagement against Wang Chow and his expeditionary force proved to be a one sided affair with the odds stacked in my favour. I can assure that I and my mates were pleased about that.

We ended up sailing along the northern shore of the inland sea until we were in sight of the strait that would take us out of the sea and through the Dardanelles and on to Izmir. By then dusk was fast approaching and night was coming on. From there we turned south-east and worked our way towards the western end of the big island. While I didn't expect any trouble I still proceeded with caution. As we moved towards the island I got Felicity on her grav bike and had her fly reconnaissance for us. I figured that the onboard radar on her bike would provide us with ample warning if Wang set sail from the cove where he was anchored. The reason why I didn't expect any trouble was because of what had been included in the intelligence report provided by Jade Network.

One interesting fact that had jumped out of everything in their report was the analysis provided of Wang's encounter with the Shark. Wang hadn't expected to run into anyone capable of fighting back. In the couple of days that he'd been in these waters, he'd encountered three vessels of which he'd captured or sunk two. On top of that he hadn't expected to take any serious damage, which was what happened when the Shark dropped two fire projectiles into his forecastle. His flagship, the Black Dragon, had almost blown up as a result of that brief engagement, all because the fire projectiles had landed almost directly on his forward guns' pre-packed powder charges. That had made him panic and it had sent him scurrying back to the cove to lick his wounds and to question his prisoners, and to rethink his strategy. Essentially, as Jade Network put it in their report, Onyx Network hadn't told Wang what we were capable of and the response of the Shark had stunned him. For now I wasn't expecting him to weigh anchor anytime soon. As well, I knew that the man wasn't familiar enough with these waters to try and navigate them in the dark while my people were. It gave us an advantage and I was making use of it.

I landed my assault force after dark using small boats that we'd towed behind the larger vessels in our taskforce. In total I took eighty men and women ashore with me. This force included my party and the six men that I'd used against the crusaders. Behind me I left Elsa, giving her the command of our naval group. We'd discussed our battle plan thoroughly before leaving Oak Hall and she knew exactly what she needed to do. She saw me off with a kiss and a wave.

I sent my six men off in advance of the main body of my troops, tasked to reconnoitre ahead of us and to take out any nosy sentries. I gave them a half hour head start and then the rest of us formed up in squads and we moved out. Naturally I led the way with my people right behind me.

Things went a lot smoother than I expected them to occur. We crossed the island slowly and carefully ensuring that everyone stayed together and we didn't lose anyone. After all, we only needed to be in position by dawn and that was still a few hours away. While the big island was big, it certainly wasn't huge. It helped that most of the men and women with me were from the old enclave and they were familiar with the area even in the dead of night. They'd patrolled the back hills from time to time during their life on the island and from that they knew their way around. That knowledge and experience came in hand to us all. Eventually we made it to where the cannibalized truck chassis stood on the crest of the hill overlooking the defensive wall of the old enclave. Here we stopped and rejoined the six men that I'd sent ahead. While the remainder of my force rested, I had a chat with them. What they told me put a smile on my face.

It turned out that Wang Chow was using the old huts of the former pirate base as cells to keep his prisoners in during the night. It was crowded but it was better than nothing. These building were being watched by a guard of forty men. Ten of the men were walking patrols down amongst the huts to make certain no one escaped and another ten men were picketed about the periphery of the settlement. The remaining twenty were sacked out by a big fire that was burning on the beach, sleeping in bedrolls. All the men on the periphery were watching the settlement and the shoreline and none of them were watching the land behind the settlement. When I asked the six men about the possibility of any alarms having been set out beyond the periphery, the leader of the six men just smiled and nodded his head. He reported that they'd found a couple of trip alarms staked out along the tracks leading up from the old enclave to the defensive wall and the hill where we were sitting. They had been rudimentary in design; just a couple of wooden stakes stuck into the ground on either side of the track with a string strung between them and some bells dangling off of them. The man told me that he and his team had already removed them. As for lookouts on the ships anchored in the cove, the six men had not seen any. Obviously Wang felt secure with all the guards posted on land and he'd forgone posting any on his ships. That would prove fatal in the end.

The men on the periphery were our immediate threat. On one hand they were spread out in such a manner that they could be taken out one at a time without alerting the others who were standing guard out on the slopes of the hills overlooking the cove and they couldn't be seen by the men patrolling the lanes that ran through the old pirate settlement. However, on the other hand, if somebody screwed up and a guard wasn't taken out as quickly and quietly as I wanted them to be removed, then we were up shit creek. After a quick chat with my six guys from Oak Hall we came up with a plan of action. The six men would move in from a flank working in pairs to take down the sentries. They'd work their way around the periphery until every man was dead. My party would cover them with bows from a distance. If problems arose an archer would dispatch the sentry and if an alarm was sounded, I would lead the remainder of our group down the hill and into the settlement. It wasn't a perfect plan and it probably wouldn't achieve what I wanted but it was the best we could come up with on short notice given the resources we had on hand.

Thankfully the plan worked. The six men moved like ghosts in the night, treading softly and disturbing nothing. They took down the first three sentries within seconds of each other and then moved on, working their way around the half bowl shaped depression onto which the settlement back up on. They then took down three more men with equal easy before moving on. Finally they took out the last four men one after the other. Nimue and I watched them with our bows at the ready the whole time. Our night vision was the best of everyone's and I marvelled at the skill of the six men, silently promising myself that I would keep an eye on them when we returned to Oak Hall. They were skilled assassins.

Once the last sentry was killed, the six men regrouped and then headed down into the settlement itself. Again they moved in pairs, taking down the guards who were patrolling the lanes. What helped them was the casualness that the guards displayed in their task. It was obvious to any who could see them that they didn't expect to be attacked. Some just bumbled along making noise as they went, muttering to themselves to help keep from falling asleep. These men died just as quickly as the men on the hill had died and I felt no grief in watching it from afar.

The twenty on the beach were another story all together. I wanted them alive if possible. That meant that more of my assault force was needed down in the settlement and on the beach. I left Tobias in charge of our main force and took my party with a few reinforcements down the hill and into the village to join up and supplement the six men from Oak Hall. Once there we moved into position and struck.

It was simple. The men were bundled up in their bedrolls that were lined up in a straight line upon the stones that made up the beach. Silently I positioned Kola and Caitlin to either side of me with their bows at the ready. While I knelt a few feet up from the sleeping men, my strike force went into action. Each of the six men for Oak Hall picked a target. This left fourteen men for my party and our reinforcements to handle. At my signal, hands darted forth covering the mouths of the sleeping men. Then as the men started to awake, knifes started to prick vital parts of the men's bodies, quickly making them aware of the danger that they were in. As that happened, I started talking to them in Wu Chinese. I told them that their friends were all dead and that their lives were about to end unless they cooperated with us completely. I told them to remain silent and to allow my men to bind their hands and to gag them. I also told them that if any of them tried to resist or if any raised an alarm that I would kill them all. Amazingly, all twenty agreed to cooperate. In seconds they were all on their stomachs being bound hand and foot. Then they were gagged and left where they lay. While it happened I sent Caitlin back up the hill to fetch the rest of our troops. I needed someone to guard these men until dawn and I still had other things that needed doing.

The prisoners were our next problem. I picked a couple of women who had been ex-pirates and gave them the job of speaking to the prisoners in the huts and dwellings. They had told me on our trip from Oak Hall that they had had some dealings with the other enclave over the years and that they knew a few of the women who were being held prisoner. I figured a friendly face would help keep people calm and quiet. Thankfully there were more women then men in the group and the women kept the men from doing anything stupid. Slowly, working hut by hut we freed the people that Wang Chow was holding prisoner and then we sent them up the hill to spend the night, promising them that after dawn they won't have to worry about Wang and his men any more. After that, I put my people to work preparing to make certain that I could fulfil that promise.

Dawn came with surprises for Wang Chow. The sun rose slowly, first peaking over the distant eastern horizon, changing the black of the night into a hint of purple. Then the purple faded away as the sun climbed higher into the sky and the new day arrived. I watched it all from the roof of one of the dwellings that stood close to the beach. It was a beautiful morning.

It took a while for the Wu Chin to wake up to the fact that something was amiss. By then day was certainly upon us and everyone could see clearly. A man came out upon the deck of the second vessel in Wang Chow's taskforce. He paused for a moment and stretched and then he walked to a railing and pitched the contents of a pot overboard. Next he spit into the water. As he straightened up and glanced out towards the mouth of the cove and the sea beyond it, he started with surprise. The pot that he had been holding in his hand fell into the water of the cove and the man started screaming an alarm. Within seconds others started screaming as well.

What the man had seen was a line of vessels anchored just outside the mouth of the cove. The ships were the Windrunner, the Swordfish, and the Serpent. The three craft were anchored bow to stern and they all had their ballistae trained on the Wu Chin vessel nearest the mouth of the cove. At the sound of the alarm all six ballistae opened up in a single salvo. In seconds the Wu Chin vessel was hit by flaming projectiles and pandemonium ensued upon the craft. The six ballistae dropped a second salvo and a third in a matter of a minute with deadly accuracy and deadly results.

The bow of the vessel closest to the mouth of the cove exploded. The explosion threw debris up into the air and stunned everyone. As the vessel started to settle on the bottom of the cove, effectively bottling up the entrance and exit of that body of water, men from the stricken vessel started jumping into the water. As they did, archers positioned about the hills overlooking the cove opened up with their bows. Quickly they shot a flight into the men trying to swim to safety, eliminating them as a potential threat. Then they engaged the men onboard the other two craft, sending a hail of arrows into the confusion. I just held my position and waited.

Eventually Wang Chow arrived on the deck of his flagship. He was immediately recognizable. He was dressed in black lacquered armour, he wore a helmet with a spike on the top that was adorned with horse hair that had been dyed red, and he was carrying a sword that he waved about as he barked orders to his men. I smiled when I spotted him and then drew one of my high tech arrows from my quiver and nocked it to my bow. The man didn't even see me. I drew back and sighted my target and waited. At the right moment I let my arrow fly. Like always, it flew true. The arrow punched a hole through Wang Chow's armour, piercing the chest near his heart. The man staggered backwards with the impact and then clutched at the arrow, dropping his sword. Men about him gasped with surprise. Then he crumpled to the deck and died. When he did, I started shouting out at the men standing upon the two remaining junks, telling them to surrender. It took another display of my skill at archery to persuade them that it was a good idea. The skipper of the Black Dragon had tried to rally his men after the death of Wang Chow. He didn't live much longer.

I left Dork the job of dealing with the remaining officers amongst Wang Chow's men. I gave him a list of names to call out as the prisoners came ashore from the junks. There weren't that many left but amazingly they made their presence known when their names were called. In total there were five of them and they were quickly separated from the rest of the prisoners. Then Dork showed the prisoners what would happen if anyone pissed him off. He took his warhammer to each of the officers and bashed their heads in. It was a gruesome sight. After that we tied up the remainder of the prisoners and shoved them all into a group on the shores of the cove. After that I sent my six friends from Oak Hall and a few reinforcements onto the two remaining junks to ensure that they were clear of any further threats. Only when that was done, did I signal the ships lying off the mouth of the cove to stand down.

In total we took two hundred prisoners including the men we'd captured on the beaches. We'd also rescued one hundred and fifty men, women, and children from the other pirate enclave while not suffering a single casualty. I was impressed with that. So was Elsa Mueller. She beamed happily at me when I met her rowboat at the shore of the cove. As she climbed out of the small craft she threw herself into my arms and kissed me enthusiastically on the lips. It took me by surprise as it did my mates.

"You did it," Elsa cried out cheerfully, not even blushing after greeting me, "and you didn't even have to use the ballistae that you dragged with you to finish off the other ships. It's amazing!"

It certainly was and I had to agree with the woman on that point. Among the things that we'd brought with us last night, hauling them over the island were two wagon mounted ballistae and their store of munitions. My biggest concern had been the effective range of the ballistae aboard the three ships and I'd decided to stack the odds in my favour by having a couple of shore based weapons that I could use to deal with the unexpected. Like Elsa said, I hadn't needed them. Still I was happy to have had them with me.

With Elsa was Mai Woo and she too was beaming happily at me, although she restrained herself from throwing herself into my arms, especially since Nimue was standing just inches from me. Still it was obvious from the expression on her face that she was extremely happy with the outcome of the morning's action.

"Well now," I said in such a manner to include everyone in my company, "what do we do next?"

"Well," Elsa jumped in without hesitating, "I can go and talk to the people that you rescued last night and put the offer to them. I'm certain that most of them will want to go to Oak Hall and join us there. After all, they don't have many options left to them. Their boats have been destroyed and the land about here isn't the best for farming."

I thought it was a great idea and I told Elsa so and then gave her the go ahead to make whatever kind of deal she thought that the pirates would accept that was in the best interest of Oak Hall. Then I told her I would be dealing with our prisoners while she did that. She wished me luck.

I set myself up by the campfire and had men brought to me one at a time, at least at the beginning. I wanted to deal with the men I really wanted working for me first. That included the men who knew how to make gunpowder and the two surviving astronomers. I made my case to them keeping things as simple as I could. I told them honestly that I had no intentions of killing them and that if they cooperated they could expect a very long life. I then made it clear that I had the power to return them home. This little piece of information had been garnered in my recent conversation with Mai Woo. It seemed that under the laws and regulations that managed the various networks and governed the running of Game World, possession is nine-tenths of the law and by capturing all the Wu Chin sailors and warriors they were mine now and they no longer belonged to Onyx Network. When I first heard this I had gotten pissed off again and my annoyance had been very demonstrative. Afterwards I was glad that Nimue hadn't been near us when we'd spoken of the matter because I was certain that Nimue would have killed Mai Woo then and there. When I asked about Dindraine and the fact that Onyx had kidnapped her while I was in the process of rescuing her, Mai Woo told me through trembling lips that that was the problem. Since I had not physically rescued her from the palace at the time Onyx took Dindraine, they could do so with impunity. I told her that they were wrong about that. Still, once I had settled down again and was able to think more rationally, I saw the advantage in knowing this little tidbit of information, which of course brings us back to my conversations with the Wu Chin sailors and warriors.

Like I said, I told them that I could send them home and that would be that. I would plop them down amongst the rest of Wang Chow's island kingdom and let them make the best of it. They could explain to the men that he'd left behind to run things what had happened to their leader or they could stay here and serve me. I then explained to them the facts of life and what I expected out of them and what they could expect out of me and the people of Oak Hall. The news about the networks and the fact that they were in a game took them all by surprise, although in the end they took it better than some people I knew. Once I'd spoken to them and to a number of other men amongst the prisoners on a one-to-one basis, including Wang Chow's personal physician, I turned my attention to the bulk of the prisoners. I spoke to them as a group.